Meta Strengthens Resolve to Offer NFTs to Users Despite Crypto Winter

Meta is taking advantage of the crypto winter to improve on its non-fungible token (NFT) offering for its users as it looks to stave off competition from other platforms.

In an interview with Financial Times, Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of fintech revealed that the company will be sticking with its blueprint for NFTs. Kasriel noted that plans have not been altered “in any way” despite the disappointing metrics in the industry.

According to him, Meta has a vision for a cross-section of its users to be able to collect digital collectibles while providing creators with an opportunity to earn.

The company’s foray into NFTs will cater “for the millions of creators out there that could potentially create virtual and digital goods to be able to sell them through our platforms,” said Kasriel.

The popular stance by a majority of analysts watching the space was that Meta would tweak its approach to NFTs in the face of the crypto winter. Asset prices are down by over 60% from the all-time high, and investors remain unsure when the market will thaw.

NFTs have fared even worse as transaction volumes have fallen by over 70% since Jan, while the floor prices of popular collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks have declined massively. 

Despite the doom and gloom, Kasriel stated that Meta will be forging on, and the bear market is only here because the industry has performed a “hype cycle” followed by the dampening of investors’ enthusiasm.

All hands on deck

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is eyeing full NFT integration across its platforms to entice creators from rivals like TikTok and YouTube. Instagram has already reached advanced testing of NFTs after selected creators were chosen to interact with the feature. 

The features allow creators to post their NFTs on the platform by linking their third-party digital wallets and stand out from other posts through the use of an NFT badge that gives information about the collectible, like the owner and the blockchain that it was minted on.

In March, the company announced that it wanted to create an Instagram NFT marketplace, but the development has adopted a cautious approach.

Meta revealed that it had already started testing Polygon and Ethereum-based NFTs with a group of creators on Facebook. Navdeep Singh, the company’s product manager hinted that the feature will allow users to display NFTs on their pages with a cross-posting option to Instagram in the works.